BRISBANE has bounced back in style, beating Melbourne by 18 points at the Demons' home deck on Saturday afternoon.

Dakota Davidson stood tall in a low-scoring game with three goals in the 5.3 (33) to 2.3 (15) win at Casey Fields.

The visitors effectively used the full width of the large Casey Fields deck, changing lanes to move the ball towards goals in a way that was particularly difficult to defend.

It was ultimately a battle of defences, with both backlines doing a mountain of work deep. Melbourne was up against it, living dangerously on the last line, but stood up reasonably well thanks to the work of Gab Colvin (five tackles, five intercepts), and Maeve Chaplin (10 disposals, seven intercepts).

Vote for your Hertz Fans' Pick HERE

But while they tried hard as stoppers, moving the ball out of defence was a trickier prospect as the Lions set up beautifully to trap the ball in the front half.

Poppy Boltz was impressive in the air down back, taking two strong intercept marks in the first half to hem the Demons in, while Jen Dunne's relentlessness in Brisbane's defence caused some problems for Melbourne's forwards.

Debutant Alyssia Pisano got the Demons going late in the third with the side's first goal for the game, leading impressively at the footy and going back to kick truly. It sparked her side after they had been blanketed by the Lions right across the field.

00:42

WK 2 | Pisano lives up to hype with debut goal

Alyssia Pisano finds herself on the end of a great build-up resulting in a major in her first game of AFLW

A rollercoaster debut
Melbourne's first draft pick of 2023 Alyssia Pisano made her debut in unusual circumstances. Initially listed as an emergency, a wrist injury to Lauren Pearce during the week saw her added to the side. Her constant movement inside 50 was important for the Demons throughout the first half, but there was little reward for the first-gamer on the stat sheet. But she persisted, and opportunity presented itself. Late in the third quarter, a channel opened inside 50 for Pisano to lead toward Tyla Hanks. The ball landed on her chest, and Pisano was able to turn and convert for Melbourne's first.

Next up
Melbourne is back at Casey Fields to take on an impressive North Melbourne outfit on Sunday afternoon, while Brisbane returns home to Brighton Homes Arena for a marquee Friday night fixture against Collingwood.

MELBOURNE              0.2    0.3    1.3   2.3 (15)
BRISBANE                  2.0    2.0    3.3   5.3 (33)

GOALS 
Melbourne: Pisano, Hore
Brisbane: Davidson 3, Smith, R.Svarc

BEST 
Melbourne: Hanks, Mackin, Goldrick, Paxman
Brisbane: Anderson, Boltz, Koenen, Davidson, Dawes

INJURIES 
Melbourne: Zanker (right elbow)
Brisbane: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Melbourne: Lauren Pearce (wrist) replaced in selected side by Alyssia Pisano
Brisbane: Nil

Crowd: 1534 at Casey Fields